Comparing workers’ compensation in Australia

Comparing Australian and New Zealand workers’ compensation  

We release a biennial report comparing Australia and New Zealand’s workers’ compensation arrangements: 

• Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand 2023
• Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand 2021 (superseded)
• Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Arrangements in Australia and New Zealand 2019 (superseded)

We release a summary of workers’ compensation scheme developments on alternate years to the Comparison report: 

• Summary of Workers’ Compensation Scheme Developments in Australia and New Zealand 2024
• Summary of Workers’ Compensation Scheme Developments in Australia and New Zealand 2022 (superseded)
• Summary of Workers’ Compensation Scheme Developments in Australia and New Zealand - September 2018 to September 2020. (superseded) 

Comparative performance monitoring 

We publish Comparative performance monitoring reports:

• Comparative performance monitoring report 24th edition (published 2022)
• Comparative performance monitoring report 23rd edition (published 2021)

The Comparative performance monitoring reports analyse the following trends across Australia and New Zealand in relation to workers’ compensation schemes’ performance:

• serious claim rates and work-related fatalities across jurisdictions, 
• an overview of the standardised average workers’ compensation premium rates by industry,  
• scenarios that show the differences in workers’ compensation entitlements between schemes,
• scheme funding arrangements information, and  
• workers’ compensation dispute information.

Compensation policy and return to work effectiveness (COMPARE) Project

The COMPARE project which was undertaken between 2015 and 2023, built an evidence base to improve return to work policy and practice in Australia. The project was led by the Insurance Work and Health Research Group (IWH) at Monash University and Safe Work Australia contributed funding to the project through a Commonwealth Grant.

The project published research findings in peer-reviewed journals that covered the impacts of legislative reform, payment step-downs, psychological distress amongst claimants, experiences of the health care system, and regional differences in time off work and disability burden.